


Four Women of the Dark Moon

by LinaBenliven



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abusive Relationship, Acxa (Voltron) Backstory, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Emperor Lotor (Voltron), Ezor (Voltron) Backstory, Ezor (Voltron) was in an abusive relationship, F/F, F/M, Galran Racism, Galran culture, Gladiator Rings, Halfbreed Racism, How Lotor (Voltron) met his generals, Human Experimentation, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Lance (Voltron) is a Dork, Lotor (Voltron) was abused, Lotor (Voltron)-centric, Multi, Narti (Voltron) Backstory, Narti (Voltron) is asexual, Narti (Voltron) was a experiment, Past Relationship(s), Polyamory, Project Kuron, Pureblood Culture, Racism, Season 5 canon, Season/Series 05, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Unethical Experimentation, Zethrid (Voltron) Backstory, Zethrid (Voltron) was in the gladiator rings, altean culture, test subjects
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-16 08:06:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15432651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinaBenliven/pseuds/LinaBenliven
Summary: Lotor was used to being locked away and distrusted. What he wasn't used to however, was it bringing up bad memories and people overcoming their distrust of him when he explained his actions and thought processes.Team Voltron certainly were an interesting family, one that Lotor was slowly becoming a part of, and this time; he didn't feel like running away.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Lotor Big Bang! My partners for this were Athena (vaevitum on tumblr) and Bee (craterteeth on tumblr). They were both super fun to work with <3

Fear was a wonderful motivator. It was what Lotor had been told his entire life. You make the planets you rule over fear you and they are less likely to try and revolt. They are less likely to cause problems if they’re scared. And less revolutions means less problems for the Empire. It meant less problems for Emperor Zarkon. And if it meant less problems for the Emperor, it meant less problems for Lotor. So, for deca-phoebs he had put up with his father’s tyrannical reign. He had put up with it because he didn’t want to challenge his father publicly when he was but one Galran in a sea of mindless drones.

It wouldn’t work the way Lotor envisioned it if he was alone. It especially wouldn’t happen easily when he was only half Galran. A fact that shouldn’t matter given that he was the prince of the Galran Empire. Yet, people still believed that due to his Altean heritage that he would betray the Empire. It didn’t matter that Lotor had never stepped foot on Altea, all they saw was the protentional for him to be a traitor.

The white hair probably didn’t help as well. Most Galrans knew of the stories about the Goddess that the Alteans told young children. That those with white hair were blessed by the Altean Goddess. Something that when you’re half Galran doesn’t win you the approval of the other soldiers. It earns you snide looks and hushed whispers. Whispers of how the Emperor should be ashamed of you and whispers of how disgraced the Empire is to have a halfling as the heir. Whispers that after a while had gotten to Lotor.

However, it was hard to stay motivated on his father’s goal of harvesting the purest quintessence, when the Empire was full of whispers that no one wanted Lotor there. And as a result, Emperor Zarkon had sent Lotor away to the planet Alvarosse to mine for quintessence. Whether it was purely out of shame for having a halfling as a child or because the Emperor had gotten sick of the hushed whispers Lotor had yet to decide. But being sent to Alvarosse meant one thing.

_Out of sight, out of mind._

Now that he was no longer a burden by simply existing on Emperor Zarkon’s central command ship, the Empire forgot about him. The hushed whispers stopped. The only whispers came from those on Alvarosse, the ones that saw how Lotor trusted them and worked with them to harvest the quintessence as opposed to him ruling with an iron fist.

But, while the Empire forgot about him, Emperor Zarkon did not. How could the Emperor forget about his son? The one who when told to conquer a planet made sure that the Alvarossians had basic rights and that they were listened to. The one who challenged his every action.

No, Emperor Zarkon did not forget about Lotor for a second.

He gave his son just enough time to grow attached to the Alvarossians. He let Lotor learn of their culture and customs for a whole year before he decided that Lotor had had enough time to harvest all the quintessence. And when the Emperor visited Alvarosse and saw that the planet was still booming, he wasted no time in declaring that the planet be blown to shreds and Lotor exiled to the far reaches of the universe so that he didn’t bring anymore shame upon the Empire.

_Lotor didn’t care._

He didn’t care that he was ostracized from the Empire. He didn’t care that he was far away from his father with no contact with the Empire. In Lotor’s opinion it was the best thing for him. Being on the far reaches of the universe meant he could forge alliances with species that had yet to know the tyrannical reign of the Galran Empire. It meant he could gather the forces he needed to focus on his plan to overthrow his father. Being so far away meant he could focus on discovering his Altean heritage without being lectured on it, and that was the most exciting part for Lotor.

Even as he gathered his things and left bugs around the command ships, Lotor was making his list of things he would need to do. Acquire some loyal fighters, arm himself with knowledge about his heritage before coming back to lead the Empire into a new era of peace once his father was off the throne.

It wasn’t a long list, but it was an important list. It was a list that Lotor was going to strongly adhere too. Not out of revenge, no this was going to be adhered to out of the need for change. And while yes, Galran traditions and the ways of conquering had been around for millennia, they were outdated and no Galran’s seemed to want to change it.

So, Lotor would be the one to change it.


	2. Act I - Acxa | Chapter 1

This still felt odd to Lotor. It felt odd waking up in an Altean castle. It felt odd being held in the chamber and not being able to roam around. He had wanted for so long to be able to interact with Altean technology and culture, only to be stuck behind several inches of glass with only a bed behind him. At the very least he should at least be thankful for the bed. If he was being held by the Galra he would not be allowed such a luxury. No, he would be forced to fight in the gladiator ring. Forced to fight until he fell in combat.

_Victory or death._

He hated the Galran motto, it went against everything that Lotor stood for. Failing should not lead to death, it was counterproductive to what the Empire wanted. If the Empire wanted to conquer every planet in order to harvest their quintessence then surely, they should realise that the knowledge they gained when failing would lead them to succeed the next time. Although, Lotor and the rest of the universe should be thankful they weren’t aware of that and that they kept killing those that failed.

Lotor’s head turns as he hears the door open and he looks down the hallway to see who they had sent to guard him this time. He was beginning to remember their names now and as such he knew that it was Lance approaching him. But learning their names hadn’t been something he had thought he would get chance to do from the Princess’ initial reaction to him.

He understood why Allura hadn’t been particularly thrilled to see him. After all, the Galra Empire had wiped out her planet and people, but did she have to treat him with the same contempt? That he didn’t understand. He didn’t look full Galran and from what he had seen the Princess wasn’t entirely an idiot. Did she not realise that he was half Altean? Or did she just not want to believe that he had changed? And even if she believed that, it didn’t excuse the other members of Team Voltron’s reactions to him.

Lotor sighs as he hears the whir of the glass moving so that the Blue Paladin could slide the tray of food through the small opening. He took it without hesitation and sat back on the end of the bed. The food looked expertly done and a lot more appealing than the grey sludge that the Galran’s called gruel that had been served in Galran prisons so Lotor was not going to complain.

“Which one of you is it that makes the food again?” Lance looks up at the question from where he had been sat with his back against Lotor’s cell. From the look on his face he hadn’t been expecting the former Prince to talk to him. Admittedly Lotor never had before but he was trying to change. If he wanted this to work he had to make an effort. He had to remember that these people were not like the Galra. They did not hate him because he had a weaker species making up half of his DNA, they hated him because of what the other half of his DNA had done to the universe.

_Lotor hated what the Galra had done too._

“Hunk makes the food.” Lance says softly and Lotor watched him curiously as he began to eat. The Blue Paladin looked upset by something but he wasn’t sure whether he would appreciate Lotor asking if he was okay. So instead he went back to trying to place which one was Hunk in his head as he ate the pastry rolls. They were sweet and yet Lotor found that he didn’t mind it. Normally sweet dishes weren’t something he liked, but that could just be due to the time that he had spent with his generals. All of them had enjoyed spicy food and as he remembers his time spent with them he finds himself missing Acxa’s cooking more and more.

“Hunk… he’s the Yellow Paladin, right?” Lotor asks as he slides the now empty tray back through the opening. He wanted to make sure he was right before addressing his issue of needing more spicy food for some variation in his diet.

“Yeah, why?”

“Can you pass on that I enjoyed this, but I would prefer some spicy food next time if he doesn’t mind cooking it.” He said as he moved his white hair out of the way to look at Lance. “I understand I’m not in any sort of position to make requests, but most Galran diets don’t include a lot of sweet food.” Lotor adds as both a quick apology to making a request as well as offering some details of his own life. He knew that Lance didn’t trust him and he figured it would be the best way to start to remedy that.

“That explains why Keith is always begging Hunk for spicy food then.” There’s a hint of sadness in the Blue Paladin’s voice and it makes Lotor stop in his tracks. The words weren’t sad but the tone was. It didn’t make sense to Lotor, and now the prince was curious.

“Are you okay?” Lance isn’t sure he heard that right. He isn’t sure that Lotor was really speaking to him in such a soft, caring tone. It didn’t seem right, but when he looks at Lotor, he can tell that the former Prince isn’t pretending. He is honestly asking and from that concerned look he genuinely cares about the answer. But, Lance didn’t understand why.

“I… I just miss Keith.” The Blue Paladin finally answers, and the answer only makes Lotor more curious. Even with all his time in the Castle of Lions, he had yet to encounter Keith. He knew Keith used to be on the Castle Ship from snippets of their conversations but no one had told him why he was no longer here. To be fair, Lotor hadn’t asked why either but that wasn’t the point.

“Keith?”

“Oh yeah, you haven’t met Keith.” Lance says, almost like a lightbulb went off in his head as he remembered that the Red Paladin had been unsurprisingly absent as of late. Not that Lance needed him around. He just missed the guy and teasing him. There was nothing weird about that, and there was certainly nothing weird about the dreams that he had been having lately. Nope nothing weird about it at all.

“No, I’ve heard about him though. He was the Red Lion’s pilot before you correct?” Lotor’s voice is soft and it makes Lance move so that he can sit in front of the glass to look up at the former Prince as they talked. Yes, Lotor was their prisoner but he was still behind so many sheets of thick glass, and Lance had his Bayard if anything did go wrong after all.

“Yeah, and he was a moody and aloof guy and a hothead!” Lance says almost exasperated and Lotor nearly chuckles, reminded of the way that Ezor had first spoke about Acxa to him. It was a nice memory, one of a simpler time. “And he was a terrible leader! He nearly got us killed on Thaseryix!” That makes Lotor tilt his head slightly. That meant that during the battle on Thaseryix that Lance had been in the Red Lion, seems he had been right about Zarkon doing as much damage to their team as they had to the Empire.

“I thought you missed him?” He asks in the soft tone, trying to coax more information out of the Blue Paladin. This seemed to be more than just a simple case of Lance missing his teammate.

“I do.” Lance sighs and flops back onto the floor to stare at the ceiling, an action that confuses Lotor. The brunet had been sent to watch over him and yet, he wasn’t treating him like a threat. Maybe Lance didn’t see him as a threat anymore? Or more likely he was so focused on his own problem that he didn’t see him as a threat at the moment. Either way, Lotor was willing to take it, it had been quintants since he had talked to someone about something other than the Galra Empire.

“Ah, was he your lover?” The words fall from the white haired halfling before he even registers what he’s asking. And once the words are out there, he finds himself staring at Lance, desperate to know the answer.

“No!” The brunet almost shouts as he sits up and stares at the former Prince, his cheeks becoming visibly red as he scratches the back of his neck. “I mean… I don’t know if he’s even interested in anyone. He just stays so distant from everyone but Shiro… but I know that him and Shiro aren’t a thing. And Hunk is really attractive too…”

“You’re rambling.” Lotor says as Lance starts to trail off. It had been cute yes but Lotor felt sorry for the boy. It was clear he had feelings for the Red Paladin, but didn’t know how to act on them, and it was endearing in its own way. But Lotor didn’t want to force him to confront something that he wasn’t ready to confront.

“Huh, guess I am.” The brunet says before he leans back slightly, something troubling him still if the look on his face is anything to go by. “Why did you think he was my boyfriend?” Lance finally says after several ticks of silence. He couldn’t bring himself to say lover, it didn’t sound right to him. After all they weren’t even that close. His head was just being unreasonable.

“You said about him having all these qualities that wouldn’t make someone miss him. But yet you still miss him. I’m the same with Acxa.” _I’m the same with all my generals._ He wanted to say. But honestly, he missed Acxa the most. She was his first love and while he loved Narti, Ezor and Zethrid, he had thought more about Acxa lately, there was no denying it. Probably because she had shot him. He hadn’t expected that. He had always known what to expect with her, and for that to have happened was truly a shock to him.

“Acxa?”

“My second-in-command.” Lotor clarifies without hesitation, forgetting for a second that Lance wasn’t trained to recognise how the Galra signified the hierarchy on their uniform. He would need to bring that up with Princess Allura, it was invaluable information. “The one with blue hair.” He adds and smiles when a glimmer of recognition flickers across the Blue Paladin’s eyes.

“The one that looks grumpy every time we see her?”

“Yes.”

“And you miss her?” The Blue Paladin’s voice is softer now, curious even, but that’s not Lotor’s main thought. His main thought is of Acxa and how much he misses her, and misses her touch.

“Dearly.” The word doesn’t sound wrong the minute it escapes Lotor’s lips but, it doesn’t sound enough. It doesn’t sound enough to convey just how much Lotor truly missed her. It was a start but it wasn’t the right word, and everything else the former Prince thought of didn’t have the same sentiment. So, for now he was going to stick with dearly.

“Why didn’t the generals come with you to the Castle?” The brunet asks after a few seconds have passed. “I thought they would have come with you when Zarkon declared that you would be captured upon sight.”

“Narti… she was used by the Witch to spy on me, and when I… I killed her, Acxa, Ezor and Zethrid betrayed me to hand me in to my father.” Lotor stares at his hands as he talked. No longer angered by his generals’ actions, instead merely saddened. He hadn’t thought they would no longer trust him after he had killed Narti, but Ezor and Zethrid hadn’t even wanted to hear him explain. Only Acxa had, and even then, he had begged her not to tell them. He had wanted to tell them the truth himself.

_And yet, he never got the chance too._

“And yet, despite all that you still miss Acxa and the others?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Lance’s question takes Lotor off guard. Why wouldn’t he miss the only people in the universe that hadn’t treated him differently for being a halfling? Or for being Galra? All four of them had just accepted it and he had been so thankful for that. He had found a family after so many deca-phoebs and having that ripped away from him hurt. It hurt more than he would ever say.

“Because I love them all. They were my wives…” He says eventually, not wanting to delve too far into his issues with family. Lance didn’t need to be burdened with that. Not when he was only asking for why he missed his generals. Yet, when he looks up he notices the shocked looked on the Paladin’s face.

“Wives as in plural?” The former Prince blinks and makes a mental note that on Earth, multiple wives clearly weren’t normal.

“Yes, it is not an approved Galran tradition… but then again not much of what I do is ever approved by the Galran Empire.” He says softly before looking at the brunet. Lance’s mouth is open almost in shock and it amuses Lotor that he can see the earthlings head trying to wrap itself around the concept of multiple wives.

“You had four wives?”

“I did. I still technically have three of them, and unless they travel to the planets we married on and file for separation with the Empire; I will always be married to them. And until someone within the Empire declares Narti deceased I will be married to her still.” He explains and finds his chest beginning to ache at the mention of Narti. Something that Lance definitely registers because he’s very quick to move to a different subject. Something that Lotor is immensely grateful for.

“Which one did you marry first?”

“Acxa.”

“How did you meet?” Lotor can’t help but notice that the Blue Paladin is now sat bolt upright, his eyes full of interest and he can’t help but think that maybe it wouldn’t be too bad to share details with him. After all, talking to someone was better than sitting in silence during the guard shifts. However, the Castle of Lions alarms seem to have a different plan in mind.

“Tell you what Lance, next time it’s your turn to watch me, I’ll tell you how we met.” Lotor says softly, not knowing why it feels so easy to warm up to the brunet, but as he watches him run away with an excited shout it begins to hit home for him.

_Lance reminded him of Ezor._

***

Lotor knew something was up the minute that he was left alone by Hunk that night. The Yellow Paladin had brought him a bowl of spicy soup and some bread and his stomach felt a lot more settled at the familiar spiciness. It had hurt that Hunk hadn’t talked to him the way that Lance had, but the halfling didn’t understand why. He hadn’t been expecting them to talk how he and Lance had after all. But, feeling ignored wasn’t Lotor’s main issue. No, that was reserved solely for the thoughts of Acxa that were swirling around his brain. He normally hated it when memories dragged themselves up but every single memory of Acxa made him feel relaxed, almost as though he was back home with his generals.

Sighing to himself, Lotor laid back down on the bed. He was thankful that his armour was relatively comfortable to sleep in. He didn’t want to ask anyone for night clothes simply because he felt very uncomfortable undressing in such an open room. Besides this way if he was attacked he was ready to fight without the need to get dressed hurriedly. Last time he had been taken off guard out of his armour it had been by Zarkon just before he had been exiled.

_He didn’t want that to happen again._

Granted it wouldn’t happen again because Lotor was now far away from Zarkon’s clutches and instead held as a prisoner by the coalition. It wasn’t much better because he was still held by people that didn’t entirely trust his motives but, at least no one in the Castle had tried to kill him.

_Yet._

Not that they wouldn’t kill him once he had outlived his usefulness for insider knowledge on the Empire. After all the Empire would eventually figure out that someone was giving Voltron insider knowledge and change how they were operating. They may be idiots but they weren’t run by an idiot. Despite his father’s downfalls and reliance on quintessence, Lotor knew that Zarkon would figure it out. And if he didn’t figure it out, the witch certainly would.

It’s why he had pushed so hard for the team to listen to him while they had the advantage over the Empire. Which was something that Shiro had immediately picked up on, although like the rest he still questioned the former Prince’s real intentions. Lotor wanted to tell them all the same things he had told Acxa all those deca-phoebs ago; that he only desired peace across the universe.

_Acxa…_

He knew that if she was here she would tell the team the same things. That he didn’t wish to harm them. That it had never been his intention for them to get hurt. She had been loyal to a fault which is what had made her shooting him in the back all that more surprising. It didn’t make any sense. Especially not when she knew about his thought process about his actions with Narti. If Ezor or Zethrid had shot him he would have expected it.

But Acxa had known that he hadn’t wanted to kill Narti. She knew how much it had torn him up inside. She had held him as he cried and had told him that she didn’t feel that he was a monster because of it. That he was nothing like his father because of it.

_Yet, she had still shot him._

She hadn’t killed him with her shot and he didn’t know why she hadn’t. After all it would have been so easy to shoot to kill, and yet his second in command had shot to stun. It didn’t make sense to the halfling. Acxa had rarely shot to stun unless he had told her to and even then, that was only if they wanted information or had to keep their target alive as a bargaining tool. So, it didn’t make sense and he wanted it to make sense. He wished it would make sense. Acxa was his loyal and most trusted general and his first wife, something that he had thought would have been enough for her not to shoot him in the back.

_Apparently, he had been wrong._


	3. Chapter 2

_Acxa didn’t know what was happening._

The alarms on her outpost had started to signal but they weren’t the attack alarms. Or the alarms that alerted her to a ship flying in the quadrant. No, these were the alarms that alerted her that somebody with high security clearance was on their way to her outpost. She shifted in her seat to bring up the visuals and blinked seeing the Galran heir landing just inches from her base’s entrance.

_Had he been sent to help her, or to discipline her?_

She hoped that it wasn’t the latter. It shouldn’t be the latter, after all she hadn’t done anything wrong. She had been sent to this small outpost on Iotrinda without any sentries because the Empire had decided that because she was half Altean; she was a risk to the Empire. And because she was deemed a risk they had sent her away to somewhere were all she had to do was report on the ships that flew through the quadrant. It was a waste of her talents and the fact that during training she had been top of her squad in every aspect.

Sighing, Acxa sat up and straightened up to at least pretend to look busy when the Prince walked into the small room that was not only her workspace, but also her bedroom, shower and kitchen. It really was a tiny outpost. Meant for those that had been exiled by the Empire. She got a shipment of food once every movement and other than going outside to collect that, she was not allowed to leave the outpost unless it was on fire or if the Empire called her back. It was a bleak and boring job.

_Hopefully the Prince would bring some excitement to it._

Lotor was not impressed when he opened the outpost door. He knew the Galran Empire had started to send the halflings they had found within their ranks away to dreary outposts, but according to her file this halfling was top of her squad. So, for the Empire to send someone as skilled as her to a planet they had already drained of its quintessence had intrigued him.

Well, it was more she had intrigued him. Her file hadn’t said what her heritage was and he was thinking that her being sent to a planet that was already dead had something to do with her skillset.  He hoped that it was to do with her skillset, and not because the Empire was showing preference to the other side of her heritage.

All other halflings that the Galran Empire had found had been shipped off into Gladiator rings, or back to their home planet if they wouldn't be entertaining to watch fight and if it even existed anymore. Those that didn't have a home planet to go to anymore, were killed and televised for the rest of the Empire to watch.

_It was brutal._

Of course, he had tried to stop it. But, his father didn't want to listen to his useless suggestions for peace. Zarkon only wanted the quintessence of the planets and to weed out the weak. The unworthy.

And that had started with his heir. So here he was on Iotrinda to recruit another halfling the Empire had thrown away because she wasn't up to their standards.

"Acxa." His voice rang out in the quiet outpost and he watched her reach for her gun on top of the console as she turned around in her chair. Her eyes focused on him in what he could only describe as curiosity.

"Prince Lotor." Her voice is soft, while her eyes never move off his as though if she looked away it would be the death of her. Lotor can't help but notice that she doesn't go to bow to him like most of the other natives around this planet had. After all, news of the Empire casting out it's only heir hadn't seemed to reach this corner of the universe just yet. "Why are you at my outpost? The Empire said no one would be contacting me for the foreseeable future."

"Why did the Empire send you here Acxa?"

"Don't you know why? I figured the Prince would know things like this before he came to visit the lowly workers. I mean kudos for learning my name, Emperor Zarkon and the Witch never did that, nor did the Commanders." She seems bitter. Something that Lotor immediately understands.

Being a halfling in the Galran Empire meant continuously proving yourself. Constantly proving that you were worth them remembering your name. That you deserved their respect and their attention. And because Lotor understands the bitterness that can bring for anyone, he doesn't blame Acxa for acting this way with him.

"You have access to the Galran records here Acxa. Look up my name in the database and see why my knowledge may be a bit lapse on your exile to Iotrinda." She says nothing in response. She just spins round in her chair and begins to type once the gun is resting back in its original spot on the console.

"They exiled you? By the ancients, why would they do such a thing? It just makes them weaker." Acxa says a few minutes later, knowing already why the Empire would do such a thing.

"They exiled me partly for the same reasons you were probably sent here to this desolate waste of a planet. I am not a pure Galra. Altean blood also runs through my veins." He says and he gently tucks his long white hair behind his ears to show her them.

"Altean blood..." Acxa's right hand reaches up to touch her ears before she looks back down at her hands in her lap. Her quiet contemplation lasts mere seconds before she stands and kicks the console hard "I thought they were just making me prove myself by sending me here." She says as she runs her hand through her blue hair.

"What do you mean?" Lotor had tensed at the kick, but was thankful that she didn't seem to be intent on relaying anymore violence just yet.

"I was a reckless cadet at times. I became the top of the squad when one of the Commanders informed me that in order for me to be fairly graded I would have to work a lot harder because I wasn't pure Galran and because I was tainted with the blood of a peace-loving race." Her lips purse at the memory before she looks back up at Lotor. "I was determined to prove him wrong."

"The blood of an Altean." Lotor says and he sees Acxa bristle slightly. He had been right in thinking that it was because of her skillset that she had been sent here. If she hadn't have pushed herself so hard she would have been executed on the spot. Probably first too. "It's a good thing you pushed yourself so hard. If you hadn't they would have killed you."

"Is that what they're doing to the other halflings? Just exiling them or killing them."

"No." Lotor didn't see the point in lying to her. The point of his journey here had been to recruit her as one of his generals. Lying to her was not going to help him succeed. "The ones that they think will be good entertainment fight in the Gladiator rings. If they have a home planet they're sent home. Otherwise they're killed."

“Do they not understand that they’re making their own Empire weaker by killing those that have to fight harder to be noticed?” She almost snaps it and Lotor watches her pace the small outpost till she reaches the kitchen. “The other halflings in my squad fought so hard to get to the same standard that I was at and the Empire is going to repay that effort by killing them. It makes no sense to me.” Lotor can tell she didn’t understand. He could tell from how she slammed the glasses and bottles around in her effort to make him a drink. He was certain she was going to shatter them, but he held his tongue.

“Other halflings?” He asks as she starts to walk back with two drinks. Acxa doesn’t return to her seat this time, instead opting to stand in front of Lotor. She still keeps a respectful amount of distance between them and he’s thankful for it. He didn’t like being crowded. It made him feel anxious and that he wasn’t in control of the situation.

_It reminded him of Zarkon._

“Yes, neither of them were extremely outstanding in one particular field, and I know neither of them have a home planet anymore, they made us conquer one of them as a drill.” Acxa doesn’t say anymore after that but Lotor can see it in her eyes. The hardened expression was a front. She knew she shouldn’t care about hearing that her fellow cadets had passed, but Acxa was fresh out of training. She wasn’t as hardened as the other soldiers in the Empire, so it did affect her. Not that Lotor was going to tell her that it was so painfully obvious on her face. They had more important matters at hand.

“Acxa, I would like you to join me as one of my Generals.” The former Prince says before he finishes the drink that he had been given by the female. He can feel her eyes on him as he puts the glass down on the console and when he looks back at her, he can see the confusion in her eyes.

“I can’t Prince Lotor.”

“Just Lotor is fine. I’ve lost my title of Prince.”

“Okay, I can’t _Lotor_ , my orders are to stay here.” And here was Lotor thinking that he had gotten through to the blue haired halfling that the Empire weren’t to be trusted. That they would have killed her if she stayed loyal to them. Sadly, he had been wrong.

“Orders that were given by a ruler who wishes to kill us both for merely existing. You become my general and we could change the Empire. We could change how they see halflings. Nothing will change how they treated us but we can do something to avoid the same pattern repeating for millennia after millennia.” The former Prince steps forward and passes her the gun that rests on top of the console before giving her a slight smile. “They made us this way. Made us fight for the same necessities that full blooded Galrans grow up with, help me show them that they were wrong to do so.”

“And that’s all you want, me to be your General?” Acxa’s tone is blunt but Lotor can hear the curiosity in her voice. The idea was appealing to her, he could tell that from the way that she was inspecting her gun with that slight smile of hers. He was winning her over.

“You mean do I have plans to pursue you romantically?” Lotor asks and when he sees her nod he knows why she’s asking. Halflings being treated as lesser than full blooded Galrans meant that the women in particular had to deal with extra harassers. It makes sense that she would be worried about him doing the same things. “Currently, I don’t, but we have only just met. If I get to know you and I think that I’m getting ideas and thoughts that I wish to pursue I will tell you and give you the option to leave if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“You’ll just let me leave, no questions asked?” She sounds surprised and it makes him chuckle a little bit before he nods at her. Even though he knows the reasons behind her caution, and approved of them, it was still slightly amusing to him. It was amusing because they were both Altean-Galran halflings and they had no reason to betray the other or force them into something they didn’t want.

“I mean, I will ask what planet you wish to live on but no, I won’t ask any questions about why you wish to leave.”

“Why?”

“I find people work best when they have their own motivation and reasons for staying. Not because someone is forcing them to do something. I do not wish to force anyone into anything,” Lotor explains as he moves to look around the outpost. “It’s the reason that I’m making you a General.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand. Why does giving me motivation mean you’re giving me the title of a General?” Acxa says as she steps forward to shove some of her belongings in a box. Apparently, she had made up her mind about coming with him.

“Well, it would be foolish to call you a soldier as you’re clearly fair past that level.  Commander just sounds too harsh, but General… It sounds right for what I want you to be able to do.” His voice is soft but firm, it was easy to hear the tone that Zarkon often used when addressing his people but somehow Acxa isn’t threatened by Lotor’s voice.

“And what is it you want me to do?”

“Infiltrate ships, run your own missions. Have a voice, if something feels off to you then you can tell me about it. I want to know your opinions about the missions we’ll be undertaking. I want to know if you have any better ideas for them. Sound appealing?” He explained as he watched Acxa pack up the last of her belongings and close the box.

“Yeah. It does.” She said softly before offering her hand to him in order to shake it. Lotor doesn’t hesitate to shake her hand, his first recruitment going successfully had been one thing he had been fairly nervous about, and now that it had been successful he was relieved.

“Well, let’s get all the supplies we can from this base and hook the computer up to the one on my ship and we can get you off Iotrinda for good.”

***

Lotor woke to somebody banging on the wall that separated him from the rest of the Altean castle. He had no idea why he had dreamt about the first time he had met Acxa but he knew that he was going to regret it. He didn’t need thoughts of her swimming around his brain when he was already struggling to gain their trust. Being distracted would not help him win their trust.

Sighing, he forced himself to sit up and blinked seeing Shiro and Princess Allura stood the closest to his cell. Neither looked too impressed but their expressions were none of Lotor’s concern. He just wanted to know why they were here. His information and leads should have checked out and Voltron should have had no issues taking out the Galran base that he and his generals had once set up.

“Your intel checked out.” Shiro at least waits until Lotor is focused on him to talk. From what Lotor can tell the Black Paladin doesn’t look too annoyed with him, or at least he didn’t when compared to the stern face that Princess Allura wore. Not that he understood why they were here. Shiro had just told him that his intel had checked out, they had no reason to be annoyed.

“You still feign surprise.” The former Prince says as he watches them both closely. There were no visible bruises on what little skin the pair showed, so it couldn’t be because they were injured. He supposed that one of the other Paladins could have been injured but in the event that that was what had happened, they wouldn’t come to interrogate him immediately after the battle. “All of the information I’ve given, proven correct. Every target I’ve provided, easily dispatched. Yet, you still look at me-”

“As if you were the leader of the most bloodthirsty race of murderers this universe has ever known.” He isn’t surprised by the Princess’ words, nor is he surprised that she’s the one who cuts him off. He had noticed during these meetings that Shiro very rarely spoke of his wariness towards him, whereas Allura was very open with her feelings towards him. Traits that had been what had attracted him to Zethrid in the first place. Shaking his head free of those thoughts, he looked back at the pair in front of him.

“Can people not change? Is it so hard to believe that I wish to return the Galra Empire to a bygone era of peace?” He asks, recalling the exact times that he had spoken these words to each of his former Generals when relaying his plans to them. It seemed no matter how much he knew he shouldn’t focus on the four of them, his brain was not going to let him forget about them. “Our fathers were friends once, long ago. There must be hope for us.” He’s aware that he’s almost pleading with the Princess but he had proved through the sharing of his intel that he only wished to aid them in this war, he just wanted her to see that.

“I guess we still need convincing.” Shiro takes the moment to speak, sensing the hostility in the room from Allura, and the pleading tone in Lotor’s voice. He wanted to believe what Lotor was saying, but every part of him that had been captured by the Galra twice now, had rejected that idea on principle alone. But he was trying to work past that fear, Lotor proving himself with intel was helping, as well as seeing the other Paladins start to warm up to him.

“The facts speak for themselves. The Galra Empire is completely reliant on quintessence. Serve that need peacefully and you have a complete paradigm shift, a new dawn for the old empire.” And as the Black Paladin listens to Lotor explain the facts he can feel himself siding with the former Prince. He knew that the Empire was heavily reliant on quintessence from his time in captivity, it made sense that serving that need peacefully would stop the Galra’s need to conquer planets.

“And you’re the man to make this happen?” Yet, Allura doesn’t seem too convinced by Lotor’s words.

“My plan from the very beginning has been to find a way to harvest quintessence without resorting to the barbarism of the Komar. Extracting quintessence from entire planets at the cost of every living thing? I think not.” The former Prince can see Shiro nodding with him as though he agrees that the barbarism of the Komar was too much. He isn’t surprised to see Allura’s jaw set at his words. He knew he was being flippant about his plan, but the Altean Princess had made it clear that she did not want to hear him out. Why should he continue to fight to be heard above her own hatred for him?

“And your solution was to send Voltron to do your dirty work.” It takes him a moment to remember what the Princess was referring to and it causes him to look down at his hands when he does remember. He had felt bad enough about lying to them, but he had done what he needed to in order to advance his plan.

“Only Voltron could retrieve the trans-reality comet. So, yes, I’m afraid I had to be a bit duplicitous in effecting its retrieval.”

“But if the Paladins were killed, that would be fine for you, too.” He notices Shiro’s jaw sets as he talks and Lotor knows that any chance of Shiro being on his side was slowly slipping away from him.

“It was a calculated risk, I admit that. But I knew they’d come through without a scratch. And since recovering the comet, I haven’t been the least bit aggressive.” He knows the words are true, so it doesn’t help that his stomach churns at the fact he was saying things that were true and being questioned for it. It didn’t help that the countless times he had been interrogated by Zarkon and Haggar growing up had made him desperate to cling to the truth, as though ever single choice he made would be met with strict investigation.

“What about your Generals?” If remembering Zarkon and Haggar’s interrogations had made him anxious, Princess Allura’s question knocks the breath right out of him. His Generals had followed his orders. They hadn’t acted on their own except in the heat of battle when they had been targeting Throk, not the Paladins. All of them had apologised to the former Prince afterwards for engaging with the Paladins, but he hadn’t cared. He had been more thankful that they had come home safe.

“A simple misunderstanding. I had no idea our paths would cross in the Ulippa System. What would I gain by fighting you? My sole focus has been finding a way to enter the zone between realities.” He doesn’t see the point in trying to explain to the Princess that his Generals hadn’t meant to engage them in combat. There was no point in telling her, she had made it clear enough that she didn’t trust him or anything that he said. Shiro would understand if the way that he had been nodding during Lotor’s explanations meant anything, but not the Princess. She had made up her mind.

“Sounds like you _are_ your father’s son.”

“It was _your_ father who led the scientific exploration that discovered quintessence. An exploration, I might add, that resulted in the creation of Voltron.” Lotor stands upright as he talks, an action that causes Shiro to visibly tense. He hadn’t meant to scare the Black Paladin, but he could not take much more of Allura’s ignorant words. “This isn’t a zero-sum game. Meeting the needs of the Galra Empire means bringing peace to the universe. That is the future enlightenment brings us, one of prosperity for all. I saved your lives and the lives of all your comrades. I have given you target after target in the Galra Empire, and all of them have been dismantled or destroyed at no cost of life to you. All I ask is to be judged by my actions rather than your preconceptions of my race.” He keeps his eyes solely focused on the Princess as he talks, hoping that he could at least drill it into her that he was not his father’s son. That he had never been his father’s son.

Seeing what his father had done to countless planets, Lotor had never wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. He had never wanted to destroy whole planets for their quintessence when there were so many more peaceful ways to harvest it. These were the thoughts he had told all the Generals anytime they asked him why he was so focused on finding a peaceful way to harvest quintessence. And that need for it to be in a peaceful way was why the Generals had stayed with him for so long. All five of them had seen too much barbarity and cruelness, they had no wish to see it continue for another millennium.

“If that is beyond you, then perhaps you should just finish me and get it over with.” His fist clenches at his side as he thinks about the mercy killing they could give him. By the time Lotor looks back up he can see Allura and Shiro walking back the way they had entered. “Clearly Princess, you are not ready to end this war.” He calls out before turning back and sitting on the bed in his cell.


	4. Chapter 3

“So, you met her and convinced her to change the Galran Empire with you? That was it?” Lance doesn’t sound overly impressed and Lotor chuckles a little at his unamused expression. It had been a movement since his original promise to tell Lance how he had met Axca next time the brunet was to watch him, and while Lance had watched him twice during that time the former Prince had only just gotten through the full story.

He hadn’t expected it to help him and Lance bond but it did feel good telling someone about Axca. It had helped him calm the thoughts that had been lingering in his head for the past movement. He hadn’t been expecting telling Lance to help but he was so glad that it had. Maybe this time he would get some rest without being plagued with the same dream of Axca.

“When you say it like that it sounds less impressive than it actually was. She was very reluctant to work with me at first.” Lotor runs his hand through his hair as he talks, remembering how much him and Axca had initially butted heads during those first few movements together. Fighting over who got to cook the meals, or fly the ship; both of them wanting to prove that they were helpful to the other. Deca-Phoebs of the Galran Empire making them prove themselves as useful still ingrained into them.

“She was?” The brunet seems so confused by the idea of Axca being reluctant to accept Lotor, and it confuses the halfling. Deca-Phoebs of experience influenced the actions of himself and his first General’s actions, Deca-Phoebs that Lance clearly hadn’t had the benefit of living through. Age really did bestow knowledge it seemed.

“I don’t blame her for being so. I basically told her the Empire she had sworn to serve didn’t care for her and that we were going to change it, but I had no clear plan of how to do that.” The Blue Paladin fell silent at that and it confuses the former Prince. He hadn’t said anything that warranted quiet contemplation, had he?

“Do you blame us?” Lance seems apprehensive and it just solidifies the connection Lotor made about him seeming familiar to Ezor. She was always the one to ask if he was mad if a mission didn’t turn out the way he had planned. It was her own way of showing that she cared, and the mere memory of it makes the former Prince’s heart ache.

 “For not trusting me?” Lotor ran his hand through his hair as he thought about it. Did he blame the Paladins for not trusting him? It’s not like they had a reason to trust him straight off the bat. For all they knew he had only saved them at Naxzela to kill them himself or take them as prisoners of war. They had every right to be apprehensive. “No, no I don’t.”

“Why?”

“Lance, I nearly got your team killed. It may not have been my intention but, I still made that happen. It would be more worrying if you had all immediately trusted me.” Lotor doesn’t tell Lance how he had expected them not to trust him. He doesn’t tell him how he had dealt with that his entire life from Zarkon and Haggar. He didn’t need the brunet to feel sorry for him for having to deal with that. It had been bad enough that Ezor had been apologetic to him about it, Lotor did not want to relieve that experience again.

“I suppose it would have been worrying yeah.” The Blue Paladin laughs it off a little too quickly, but Lotor decides not to comment. There had to be a reason behind it, but Lotor knew he wasn’t close enough to the Blue Paladin to ask him what that reason was. Lance would reveal it when he was ready to do so. “What was she like?” The question comes after a few minutes of silence and it takes the former Prince by surprise.

“Who?”

“Axca, what was she like?” Lance doesn’t seem too bothered by having to repeat his question, in fact it almost seems like he expected to have to repeat himself. Something that had lined up with Lotor’s observations that Lance didn’t seem to be taken seriously by the team all the time. Whether this was because he had seen the Blue Paladin make countless jokes while the rest of the team were serious, or whether it was because of something that Lotor had yet to see – he had no idea.

“Smart, stubborn when she wanted to be. Driven to succeed.” He recalls Axca’s most defining qualities with little hesitation. He wasn’t sure what the brunet wanted to hear about, but he figured that that was a good enough start. “She was my right hand, just as you are to Voltron.” He adds as an afterthought, wondering if it would help Lance realise that he had a vital spot on the team.

“She was?”

“Yes, and I am certain that if she was still around she still would be my right hand.” Not only that but Lotor was certain that now it was just the three of them, Axca would be the leader. Ezor and Zethrid wouldn’t have argued about letting her lead either.

“You miss her.” It’s not a question. It’s a statement and while it makes Lotor’s hear twinge with pain he knows that it’s true. He just wished that it wasn’t so painfully obvious. He contemplates asking Lance how he makes it so obvious that was the case just so he can change whatever it was just to hide the pain of losing his Generals.

“I do, but there’s no sense dwelling on the fact she’s not with me anymore. It won’t change what happened.”

_It won’t bring back Narti._

“So, once you had convinced her to leave the Empire what happened?” Lance thankfully changes the topic without any hesitation and Lotor can feel a huge weight being lifted off his chest.

“We fought at first. Constantly challenged each other to try and prove that we were worthy enough for the other to let us stick around.” Lotor is aware that he wasn’t giving the Blue Paladin a great deal of details but he had always found that getting straight to the point was more beneficial.

“Is that a Galra thing?” The brunet looks confused as he talks and the former Prince curses himself for remembering that the Paladins didn’t have much experience with Galrans outside of fighting them. They were very familiar with their weapons and tactics and less familiar with the Galran hierarchy and its social structure. Not that he blamed them. The hierarchy was a minefield to navigate even for someone that was Galran. Maybe one quintant he could teach them about it.

“It is, but not to the extent Axca and I were doing it.” He starts only to bite his lip when he sees Lance looks confused. He didn’t know how to explain the elitism of the Galran Empire without sounding understandably bitter. “We’re both halflings, as are Zethrid, Ezor and Narti. As such we had to work harder to prove to the Empire that we were worth their time.” He settles on eventually, and Lance seems to shift uncomfortably. As though he had experienced this himself.

“And because you were used to doing it, you couldn’t stop?” Lotor nods at the question, knowing that Lance understood exactly why it became such an issue without having to go into any further details. “It happens on Earth to, but usually it’s to do with a person’s skin colour or the country they came from.” Lance offers as an explanation that Lotor wasn’t expecting. Lance had no need to explain his own experiences if he didn’t want to and yet he had. Maybe it was out of solidarity because he kept sharing details of his own life.

“It shouldn’t happen anywhere. I had hoped other planets were more civilised than the Galran Empire.” He keeps his voice quiet, although he’s certain that Lance can hear the disappointed tone in his voice. He looks up hearing the familiar elevator sound and narrows his eyes slightly. “I didn’t realise we had talked so long Lance.” He says as he watches the elevator travelling down.

“We didn’t. Shift change isn’t for another two vargas.” Lance stands up as the elevator comes into view, as though trying to prove that he didn’t just sit and talk to Lotor during his time on guard duty. “Is there any chance the mission you sent Pidge and Matt on could have gotten them hurt?” He asks, keeping his voice low.

“I’ve seen Pidge fly, she would have been able to avoid the fighter jets with ease, so unless they were intercepted by my Generals no there is no chance they were hurt.” Lotor tries not to feel hurt by the way Lance stares at him, as though testing him to see if he was telling the truth. He understands why Lance had to do it, he would be doing the same if he was in the brunet’s position. Just after deca-phoebs of the same treatment from Haggar and Zarkon, it hurt having to go through it time after time again.

“Why would your Generals go there?” Lance’s tone sets Lotor on edge, and Lotor looks back at his hands knowing that what he had just said didn’t look good for him. He takes a deep breath to focus himself, and think of how he can best convey to Lance that the reason he knows that his Generals could have been there has nothing to do with him communicating them.

“Axca is the only one that knows of the prison’s location. We rescued Narti from there. If your friends have not found Sam Holt, then it is probably because they’re using him as a bargaining chip to get back into the Empire’s good books.” The former Prince manages to keep his mind from spiralling as it dawns on him that he had rescued Narti from that prison, and instead focuses very quickly on a different topic when he sees confusion on Lance’s face. “Siding with an exiled Prince when the Empire has given you orders to kill them on sight is not a good idea.” He clarifies as the elevator reaches the walkway, watching as Lance turns to face whoever had come down to talk to them. Their arrival cutting off their discussion.

Lotor straightens up a bit when he sees the rest of the team approaching, their faces stern as they look at him. Was he going to have to explain why his Generals could be at that prison and have his answer scrutinised by the entire team? He hoped not. He watches as Shiro and Allura lead the rest of the team down the walkway, his eyes immediately focusing on the small Green Paladin and what looked to be her sibling, Matt. They both looked unharmed leading Lotor to believe that they weren’t the reason for the team’s sudden visit.

“Did the mission go okay?” Lance asks as they all come to a stop in front of the cell. Pidge keeps her eyes solely focused on Lotor and he can’t help but feel like he’s back in front of Zarkon. Her eyes don’t leave him even as Lance asks how their mission went, when it’s clear that he is addressing her.

“We didn’t find Commander Holt but, we did liberate some scientists and we’re alive so yeah it went okay.” It seemed the former Prince had been right in his assumption that the taller male was Pidge’s sibling. However, it seemed that he didn’t resent Lotor like the Green Paladin did. It was baffling. “Lotor, can I ask, why would the scientists held there be threatened by a ‘scary lady’, and who is she?” His heart drops at Matt’s words and he feels everyone’s attention turn back to him.

“It probably refers to Axca, and she’ll be using your father as a trade for them to the re-join the Galra ranks.” Lotor keeps his voice as emotionless as possible as he talks. Not wanting to think about how they would scrutinise his words, and think he had something to do with this plan.

“And why does she need Commander Holt for that?” It’s Shiro’s turn to talk and he looks just as worried as Matt did, clearly, he too felt for the safety of Commander Holt. Pidge on the other hand just looks more annoyed at what Lotor was suggesting.

“She knows that Zarkon will offer you a rather costly trade for your father back. One that will benefit him more than it will benefit you.” He doesn’t even have to think about how Zarkon will react, he just knows that he will use the trade to his advantage. Just like he always did. “And the fact that you’re all down here leads me to think that he’s already made you an offer.” The former Prince watches as Matt, Shiro and Hunk avoid looking at him, while Allura and Pidge keep their eyes focused on him.

“What did he ask for?” Lance is the one to break the tense silence, and Lotor turns away. He knew what words would follow. No matter how many times he heard that his father intended to kill him, there would always be this dull ache. It was something he couldn’t escape now.

“He wants Lotor in exchange for Commander Holt.”


	5. Act II. - Narti | Chapter 4

Lotor sighed as he leant back in the Altean Craft. He had known that they were going to pick Commander Holt over himself the minute that the deal had been offered to them. Commander Holt was one of their own, they already trusted him whereas Lotor was just an outsider trying to gain their trust. He had tried to tell them the potential problems they would face by just accepting Zarkon’s words on face value alone. But the Green Paladin hadn’t seemed like she wanted to listen. He didn’t know if she cared about the problems, or if she was so blinded by the need to reunite with her family that she could no longer think clearly.

It must be a nice thing to be able to love your family so much that you would do anything to get them back. It was certainly something Lotor had never felt towards Zarkon, but after the millennia of Zarkon trying to kill him, that was to be expected. He was certain that he would never have that level of love towards his father, even when he reads about the man he was millennia ago when King Alfor was alive. There was admiration there yes, but it only ever lasted until he remembered the man his father was now.

He looks up as he feels Shiro staring at him as they landed on the chosen planet for the exchange. He notices that the partition to the cockpit was up and he looks back towards the Black Paladin. The man who had injured his father enough in combat that Haggar had deemed it necessary for Lotor to come back out of exile. A man who despite the tales Lotor had heard about the Champion, didn’t look like much of a threat when he looked nervous about being caught staring at him.

“Lotor, can I ask you something?” The first thing Lotor notices is that Shiro’s voice is different to the one he uses with the rest of Voltron. With the team he seemed to use a tone that got them to listen to his authority, yet with him, he seemed to be treating him like and equal.

“Go ahead.”

“Why do you think that Zarkon is planning to double-cross us?” Lotor can’t help the way his eyebrows arched at the question. It certainly hadn’t been a question he was expecting. But then again, his conversations with Lance had proved on countless occasions that it was impossible to predict what the earthlings were thinking.

“As I said before, I believe he wants more than just myself. Yes, having myself means he can personally see to my demise before no doubt killing my Generals rather than upholding his end of their deal. All of which would help him strengthen his hold on the Empire again.” Lotor pauses as he thinks how best to word his next sentence. Back on the castle it seemed he had worded things in such a way that it riled Pidge up too much too quick. “But he’s going to want something more from you. Be that the lions, or your own deaths. Going through with this trade means you play into his hands.”

“So, what would you suggest we do?” Lotor pauses at that. He had known that out of the five members of Voltron, Shiro was the most likely to look to defeating Zarkon after the hell he had gone through trying to bond with the Black Lion. Yet, he had never imagined that he would speak to someone that didn’t hide just how strongly they despised Zarkon. It was an odd feeling to have, but it made him trust the Black Paladin that little bit more. And given what they were discussing; trust was invaluable.

“Knowing the terms of the exchange, and that his fleet is some distance away, as is your own air support, now would be a good time to attack him when he has no support. He’ll have to rely on his hand-to-hand combat. It is incredibly dangerous though and we would only get one shot at it.” The former Prince keeps his voice quiet, as though if he spoke any louder someone may hear him. Shiro takes a few seconds to think before standing and pacing the floorspace. It was something he appeared to do when stressed. He had done it shortly after telling the team to fall quiet.

“It would have to be you that does it. The terms say that we have to stay at our ship while the exchange takes place.” The Black Paladin says eventually as he leans down to tamper with Lotor’s handcuffs. He knew enough Altean to recognise the setting Shiro had put them on, and that he would be able to break free of them if he so wished now.

“It will be a bit hard to take him down without a weapon.”

“That’s why you’ll be using this.” Shiro extends his arm and Lotor’s eyes settle on the Black Bayard in his hand. A weapon that as a child Lotor had never been able to touch. It had always been by his father’s side so to now see Shiro offering him the chance to touch it. To fight with it. It was surreal.

“The Black Bayard? I thought only Paladins could wield it?”

“I thought that too but after we spoke to you, I made Matt try it, Coran too just to check that Matt wasn’t an anomaly. They both managed to form a weapon. I think the owner of the Bayard has to give permission for someone else to use it.” Shiro seems to have thought of everything and Lotor had to admit; taking down his father with the Black Bayard was something he had dreamt about. He had dreamt about it every time his dad actively showed that he was more interested in the Black Lion than his own son.

“I’m assuming that you aren’t planning on telling either Pidge or Matt your plan?” The former Prince says as he takes the Black Bayard and rests it on his lap. If he hadn’t told them Lotor was certain there was a reason behind it, Shiro didn’t seem to do things simply for the fun of it.

“No, they would both think I’m insane for suggesting it. Once you’ve hidden the Bayard join us outside.” Lotor watches the Black Paladin leave the Altean craft and takes a deep breath before picking up the Black Bayard once more.

It felt light in his hand, as though it was used to someone a lot smaller than himself or Shiro. He wonders for a moment if that person might be Keith as he runs his thumb over the curve of the material. He blinks when he feels a button and presses it, only to relax when he sees it morph into a long sword. Returning it to his original form Lotor stands and hooks it onto his hip, high enough that the fabric hanging off his cape covered it from sight.

Lotor squints a little when he emerges from the craft and finds himself staring down his father on the other side of the canyon. His armour had changed. It was clearly evident that the Witch was the only thing keeping him alive through the quintessence pumping into his suit consistently. That would have to be his main target.

Looking past Zarkon, Lotor isn’t surprised to see Axca and Ezor stood with the earthling. He had known they would use him as a bargaining chip and he didn’t blame them for doing so. He just hoped that they didn’t get screwed over. What did surprise him though was the way Ezor didn’t push the earthling towards the ramp. This time her lips moved instead of her falling into her usual habits.

_Something was wrong._

He doesn’t get chance to vocalise this to Shiro because he’s being told to walk forward. Instead he keeps it to himself that he has a very real suspicion that Zarkon has already double crossed them. He would rather know for certain if he was the one being told after all.

As he reaches the earthling, he takes a moment to observe him out of the corner of his eyes. He isn’t surprised when he sees the faint glow of a hologram, but he knows that in order for Shiro’s plan to work; he had to make it to Zarkon. Shouting that the earthling was a hologram would insure that he wouldn’t get the chance to take down his father. So, instead he carries on walking.

“Pidge!” Shiro’s shout doesn’t surprise Lotor as he hears the Green Paladin starting to run behind him. He assumes she’s running towards her father but he doesn’t look round to check, knowing that Zarkon would know it was out of character.

It’s when he hears the Green Paladin screaming that they had a deal that he finally turns around to look at the scene in front of him. He’s aware of Axca stood close behind him and notes that in order to attack his father he was going to have to hurt her, and while his heart sinks a little he knows she’ll forgive him.

“If you want the earthling returned alive you will surrender Voltron to me!” Lotor clenches his hands at his father’s demanding shout. He had told Shiro to expect this, he had told them all to expect it; but it was different actually hearing it.

“I’m sorry.” Lotor keeps his voice soft as he whispers to Axca, wanting her to know that if he had any other option; he wouldn’t be doing this. He waits until she looks at him before he breaks the handcuffs and hits her in the temple hard enough to disorient her. He pulls the Black Bayard out without looking back at Ezor and Zethrid, not wanting to see just how much of a traitor they thought he was. Not after he had killed Narti, and had now hit Axca. He takes a few steps forward and jumps, activating the Black Bayard into its whip form to attack Zarkon.

He stands his ground as he watches the dust settle around his father, changing the Bayard’s form into a sword as he waits. He can’t help but find himself agreeing with Zarkon when he proclaims that this would end here. He was right. One way or another it was going to end.

_Victory or death._


	6. Chapter 5

Contrary to what most people seemed to believe within the Galra Empire; killing those that had made your life hell did not help. His fight with Zarkon had been long and tiring, and it had not made him feel any better. Sure, he had had the chance to be able to say somethings to his father that had played on his mind for many Deca-Phoebs. And while in the moment it had felt good finally being able to fight his father. But now?

_Lotor felt empty._

He had retreated into the room that he had been given, the team no longer locking him away like a prisoner, but it wasn’t to grieve. There was no need to grieve over Zarkon. He had deserved to die and Lotor had grieved a long time ago for the father that he had never connected with. Instead he had retreated to his room to bandage the wounds he had sustained during the fight and then sleep. He had told Shiro and Allura he would talk with them the next morning, and no one had questioned him or said anything about grieving to him. And yet, Lotor felt bad for not needing to grieve.

He reached for the bandages and groaned as his bruised ribs ached. Knowing how painful it was going to be trying to bandage that alone he gives up. Instead bandaging the quintessence burns he had received on his arms before laying down. All the other injuries were superficial, and simply surface damage. They would be okay in a quintant or two. Lotor shifts so that he was comfortable in his new bed, with the hope that his ribs stopped being as painful overnight. He didn’t want to ask one of the Paladins to bandage him up. Those thoughts quickly leave him though once his eyes are closed as his body succumbs to its need for rest.

***

“Are you sure that something is here?” Lotor doesn’t mind that Axca sounds wary. They had followed countless leads on their effort to free halflings from the Empire’s tight grasp, only to arrive and find them already dead. Her wariness was understandable.

“It’s in the Witch’s notes.” He responds as he looks up at the facility. They had already disarmed the security thanks to the fact Axca could still access the Empire’s systems, but Lotor was still expecting for someone to try to stop them. A sentry or someone coming to investigate why everything had been deactivated. Apparently, they either hadn’t noticed or they simply didn’t care.

_Lotor was going to go with the former._

“The security was way out of date Lotor. You probably could have accessed it still.” Axca says as she moves away from the console she had been using. “There was no record of the Witch logging into the facility either, I think the facility has been abandoned.” She adds as they started to walk towards the main entrance. There were no signs of life or activity anywhere, and if Axca was honest with herself – it made the building eerie.

_Something was very very wrong here._

“Maybe so, but this is the only place the Witch has personally mentioned, I’m sure that we’ll find something…” Lotor keeps his voice quiet, despite the fact there were no obvious signs of life anywhere. He didn’t want to be blindsided once again, and judging from how Axca’s hand was resting on her gun; he wasn’t the only one.

“Can she access the security systems?” She asks as they turn into another empty corridor, the sound of their boots hitting the floor echoing throughout the empty walls. It was a lot quieter than the other facilities they had gone too and that worried her. Normally they were full of activity and they spent most of their time trying to navigate without drawing attention to themselves. This time they were able to move freely throughout the building, and that worried her.

“I don’t think so, she always had a druid access it from what I remember.” He recalls as he moves to open one of the heavy lab doors when he sees that the computers were still running. It looked like they were monitoring something and it had made him curious. None of the other terminals were still active.

“In that case, it’s possible that the security system was outdated because she can’t update it, which means the facility is could still be active, but judging from the fact there’s no one here and a good layer of dirt, I think it’s abandoned.” He listens to Axca muse out loud as he works on opening the door and he smiles a little. That was one of the things he had grown to love about her. She was also so determined to work through what was on her mind that she would often muse out loud, letting Lotor chip in every now and again.

“Again, maybe so, but what did she leave behind?” He asks as he finally manages to open the door with a grunt. These doors were heavier than most of the doors in the other facilities, which made him wonder if they had found what they were looking for after all. The door shuts behind them and Axca immediately draws her gun, she hated being cornered. “Focus on the terminal Axca.” He orders as he walks towards the lit terminal.

“Those… those are medical scans.” Lotor looks over when he hears Axca’s confused tone and watches as she starts to focus on the data that was coming in rather hurriedly the more buttons she pressed. “When we were trained we were taught how to read them, just in case we went to that sector…”

“So, what does it say?” Lotor asks it as he turns his attention to the research notes on the terminal screen next to hers. They were unmistakably the Witch’s notes. Nothing seemed to be standing out from the quick skim-through he was given them, except for the fact that some of the entries were dated fairly recently. Clearly, it hadn’t been abandoned long.

“It’s monitoring somethings heartrate and vitals. But judging from the physiological scans, it’s not Galran… It could be a Halfling.” She looks at Lotor as she talks, assessing her mate’s reaction to the news. They had been searching for several movements to find another Halfling and rescue them, and this was the first one that they had found. She hoped that he felt better knowing that this time they had arrived in time to save them.

_The grin on his face was unexpected though._

“Told you it was worth coming here.”   _So was the snarky comment._

“Yeah, yeah, save that for when we’ve actually rescued them okay?” Axca murmurs as she works to undo the security keeping the test subject locked away. It was a lot more complicated than she expected, this halfling had a lot more security than the others they had encountered. “Is there anything in the notes that tells you why they were abandoned?” She asks as she reduces the security down to its final failsafe, not wanting to undo it until they were certain they could handle whatever was behind that door.

“It’s mainly about how this was a trial for another experiment the Witch was running. They’re docile until activated.” He explains as he flicks through the last few pages of notes. From what he was reading the test subject had been incredibly responsive to the testing, and the abandonment had only been because they were not full Galran.

“That doesn’t sound reassuring. How do you activate them?”

“We’re not going to need to. You only activate them if you want to use them for what the Witch wanted, which is to fight. I want them to help us, so no activation is necessary yet.” He explains as he walks towards the sealed doors. As agreed with Axca when they had first started this mission, he was always going to be the first to engage with new halflings for their team. He knew that she disliked him putting himself in danger but there wasn’t any other way.

“Do you want me to open the doors?” Axca asks as she watches her mate, one hand on her gun ready just in case things spiralled out of control. “Very well.” She adds when she sees him nod, her fingers already hitting the door release button.

_Door opening in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…_

Lotor looks up as the door opens revealing the darkness of the cell in front of him, only for him to tense when he hears chains starting to break as something pulled itself free. He tries to keep his breathing steady as he steps forward, only for something to claw at his face before slamming him into the cold metal floor, before everything went black.

***

Lotor wakes with a scream and he looks round the room in a panic. That hadn’t been how he and Axca had met Narti. _She hadn’t attacked him._ She had been timid, docile. He had approached her and offered her safety away from testing. So, why was his brain telling him that she had attacked him? Just how much had having to kill Narti affected him?

Too much was the answer that Lotor settled on with as he saw the door to his room open, blinking when he saw the Black Paladin walking into the room, a concerned look on his face. The second thing Lotor notices about Shiro is the fact he had a first aid kit in his hands.

_Had he screamed that loud that he had attracted outside attention?_

“Are you okay?” Shiro doesn’t sit immediately on the bed like Lotor is sure Lance would have done. It’s a small gesture, but one Lotor is thankful for. He didn’t want Shiro to sit down and aggravate some of his injuries accidentally. His pain tolerance was high, but he didn’t think that he could take much more this quintant.

“I’m fine.” Shiro didn’t believe it. It sounded exactly how Keith always said it when he definitely wasn’t okay. Maybe it was a half Galran thing?

“You screamed pretty loudly Lotor, did you aggravate an injury?” Lotor looks away at that conversation. Technically he had aggravated an injury, just a mental one rather than a physical one. He just wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk to Shiro about that. Not yet anyway.

“Kind of, my ribs could do with bandaging.” Lotor runs his hand through his hair as he talks, watching as Shiro’s eyes focus on the dark bruises surrounding the cuts on his ribs. He knew they were bad, he didn’t need to see that concerned look. It was like the look Axca used to give him. It was a bad memory to him now.

“You took quite a beating…” Shiro says as he kneels next to Lotor, his fingers working quickly to clean and bandage the halfling’s ribs. He didn’t want to linger for any longer than necessary, it wouldn’t be fair on Lotor or himself. He knew that Lotor hated physical contact and he didn’t want to force that on him.

“It was nothing that I’m not used to.” Lotor looks down at the bandage once Shiro backs away from him to put away the first aid equipment. He liked the fact that Shiro was respecting his personal space. Although he did get the feeling that the Black Paladin was used to dealing with people that didn’t like their personal space invaded. Maybe that was why he was giving him his space.

“Still not the point. Just because you’re used to it doesn’t mean you can neglect to take care of your injuries.” Shiro says it with such a practiced calm expression, something that tells Lotor he was used to saying this a lot. Lance had told him that Keith was an incredibly reckless teammate, so maybe that assumption was right. Or maybe Shiro was referring to himself.

“It’s the same thing you do from what Lance was telling me.” The Black Paladin laughs as Lotor says that and the former Prince watches as his face softens. It was such a stark difference to the serious look he normally wore. Lotor was unsure as to whether he preferred it or not. “Your team cares for you a great deal.”

“As do yours.” He had noticed it during the exchange. The way all three Generals had watched as Lotor walked with love and concern. It was the same way Lance had started to look at Hunk and Keith. “I saw the look your Generals gave you, they still care for you, that much is evident.” He clarifies when he sees the confused and sleepy look on Lotor’s face. He didn’t want to overstay his welcome, especially not when Lotor was still untrusting of them. “But, I should let you get back to your rest, we can talk more at length tomorrow.”

Lotor nods as Shiro leaves the room. He would very much be up for talking after he had rested, especially now that his ribs had stopped aching. He would have to thank Shiro when he woke for helping him. But for now, he would rest and hope that his sleep was no longer plagued by wrongful memories.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art at the end of this chapter is from @Vaevitum on tumblr <3

It had been a while since Lotor had woken up to the smell of a warm breakfast. He sat up with a small wince as he strained his ribs, and blinked seeing Shiro carrying a plate. Was this the Black Paladin’s attempt to apologise for their harsh treatment towards him? Because Lotor understood why they had been wary. He didn’t need an apology for behaviour that was entirely justified in his eyes.

“You didn’t need to bring me breakfast.” The words slip from Lotor’s mouth before he has chance to register what he was saying. He didn’t want to be rude towards the leader of Voltron but, he needed some way to show him that he didn’t need to do this to win Lotor’s trust. Shiro had already won his trust during the hostage exchange, when he had given him the Black Bayard.

“I know.” Shiro smiles as he turns to shut the door behind him, balancing the tray on one hand to do so. The former Prince notices that Shiro favours his human arm for this action and he can’t blame him for it. He wouldn’t want to rely on a hand that the witch had given him either.

“Then why did you?”

“Because I had a feeling you wouldn’t get up to get your own breakfast.” While Shiro may have his trust, Lotor didn’t like the fact that he just seemed to know stuff like this about him. It didn’t make him wary, he was just unused to the feeling that it made him experience. “When Keith gets injured or has nightmares he never comes down for breakfast. The pair of you are strikingly similar at times.” Shiro adds as an afterthought when he puts the tray down on Lotor’s lap.

“Is it because we’re both reckless?” Lotor asks as he looks down at the warm breakfast he had been given. He didn’t know what the circular cake looking discs were or what the syrup they were coated in was but they smelt amazing. It reminded him of something that he and Axca had eaten when they rescued Ezor, he just couldn’t remember the name of them.

“Not just that. You both care for your teammates and fight for what you believe to be right. In your case that’s your make the Empire a more peaceful one, and in Keith’s case that’s whatever he has his sights set on at that moment. Currently it’s helping the Blade track this new purer form of quintessence.” Shiro leant against the wall as he talked and Lotor recognises the fond look he has when he talks about Keith. Clearly the two were close. He didn’t know how close, but he had a feeling that it wasn’t as close as his Generals and himself had been.

“Lance just said Keith was reckless.” He says in between mouthfuls of the sweet discs. They tasted nice, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. It didn’t taste like the food native to Ezor’s planet, but it was very similar. It appears he would have to ask the Yellow Paladin what they were called after all.

“I’m not denying that he is, he just has other qualities that influence his recklessness. However, I feel that will make more sense when the time comes for you to meet Keith.” Shiro smiles as he talks about Keith before he stands up straight. His usual serious face making an appearance as he turns to leave the room. “For now, once you’ve finished your breakfast we could do with your help on the bridge so that we can discuss what our next move should be.” And with that, Shiro leaves the room, leaving Lotor alone to get ready in his own time.

_Today was going to be a long day._

***

Lotor had a feeling he would find Shiro alone on the observation deck. Talking to the team about the Kral Zera hadn’t exactly gone well, and then Voltron had been called away to battle before Lotor could talk to him. He had thought of a plan regarding the Kral Zera but he needed Shiro’s help in order to pull it off. He watches Shiro stare out the window for a few doboshes before he crosses to him and gently puts his hand on his shoulder.

“Were you serious about your desire to put me on the throne?” He says once Shiro is looking at him. The first step of his plan involved making sure that he truly was on his side. He didn’t want to suggest the plan if Shiro wasn’t one hundred percent on his side.

“It is the best decision we have. Like you said if you don’t claim the throne there’s no telling who will.” Shiro sounds a little resigned as he talks, and Lotor can’t help but wonder if that’s due to how the team treat him during their initial talks. Lotor may have encouraged his Generals to talk freely about their plans yet, they had never attacked his plans as ruthlessly as the other Paladins had.

“It will be people who supported my father and the more ruthless and savage of that small few are the only ones with a chance of securing the throne. You do not want them assuming command.” His words make Shiro tense and Shiro doesn’t understand why. He had known that was more than likely going to be the outcome. It seemed the Galran Empire was like a Hydra. Kill one leader and five more crop up on the outskirts of their territory.

“I can imagine we don’t.”

“Which is why I have a plan.” Shiro raises his eyebrow at that. He had heard first hand from the rest of the team how coordinated his plans were, as well as how devastating they had been for the team. All of which meant that he was understandably wary of Lotor having a plan.

“You do?”

“As you can imagine, the Black Lion is seen as a powerful symbol in the Galran Empire. We don’t need to take Voltron to the Kral Zera, just the Black Lion. If they believe I’ve brought it back, they should hear me out long enough for me to be able to climb the stairs at the ceremony.” Lotor explains, choosing to ignore Shiro’s rather shocked statement as he leans against the railing like the Black Paladin.

“It would be less dangerous then taking all five Lions that’s for sure, but it’s still risky taking one.” The other male doesn’t sound too convinced, although Lotor can see him running through the possible scenarios as he looks out the window at the stars.

“All Galrans know the importance of the Lions choosing their paladins, they know that they won’t be able to steal it away so they won’t try.” He offers as some reassurance, hoping that it helps Shiro see that what he has planned wasn’t that bad after all. “The fact that I can wield the Black Bayard will help trick them as well.” He adds as an afterthought. He had yet to see Shiro use it and wondered whether the other male ever wanted to use it. After what the Galra had done to him; Lotor didn’t blame him.

“They’ll think you’re the true Black Paladin.” Shiro’s tense voice betrays the serious look on his face. Clearly, he had an issue with lying to the Galrans, even if it was the best-case scenario for the rest of the universe. “A bit deceitful.” Shiro says before looking up at Lotor, a knowing look on his face.

“Not many of our rulers have taken the throne by honourable ways Shiro.” Shiro had known that had to have been true for many Galran rulers, but he wasn’t expecting Lotor to be so flippant about himself doing the same. He could see that it was their best option, he just wished they didn’t have to resort to lying to them.

“So, I assume that I stay in the Black Lion to help you fool them?”

“Exactly, unless we’re attacked the plan will work.” Shiro doesn’t ask if Lotor thinks they’ll be attacked. He had learnt that the half Galran was very blunt with his words and he would rather not hear a detailed breakdown of how they would be attacked. He would deal with that if and when it came to it.

“I’ll trust you on this plan then Lotor. I’ll meet you in the Black Lion’s bay once everyone’s gone to bed.” Shiro says as he turns to walk away, if they were going to leave late, he would need to get some sleep now.

“I am sorry we have to do this behind your team’s backs.” He catches Shiro’s arms as he talks, regret in his eyes. He really was sorry that they had to do this behind their backs, but sacrifices had to be made in war.

“It’s okay, they’ll understand afterwards. Just like they did with the Bayard.”

_Lotor can only hope that that’s true._

 


	8. Act III - Ezor | Chapter 7

Lotor didn’t know what he was feeling. Riding in the Black Lion was certainly an experience he wouldn’t forget anytime soon, but the excitement from that was mixed in with something else. He felt alive sneaking out of the Castle Ship with Shiro. It reminded him of something Ezor would do, and he knew that she would be proud he was letting himself cut loose. It was something she had always told him that he needed to do more often.

It was just a shame that it took losing his Generals for him to finally take her advice.

“We’re approaching Feyiv’s atmosphere, you okay?” Shiro asks as he lets the Black Lion approach the desolate planet at a slow pace. He seemed genuinely concerned and it makes Lotor a tiny bit tense. Shiro seems relaxed, despite the fact they were heading into a hostile environment.

He knew who the main competition was going to be; Warlord Renveig, Commandor Gnov, Quartermaster Janka and the witch and her puppet. But with the Black Lion on his side, there was no reason for the odds not to be in his favour. In Voltron’s favour.

_So, why was he worried that something would go wrong?_

He had been told time and time again by Zarkon that he would never be able to rule due to his dual heritage. It seemed like such an impossible task for so long and yet here he was trying to do that regardless. Even though his father had died at his hands, Lotor still felt the need to prove him wrong. To prove that being a halfling had no influence on his strength or ability to lead.

He knew what he had to do. He had to walk up those stairs and claim what was rightfully his. The competition be damned. He had killed Zarkon. He was the only one worthy of the throne and they would all see that once he lit the Kral Zera.

“I’m fine. I was just thinking over what I have to do. Are we able to see what’s happening down there?” He asks, wanting to focus on the mission. Shiro nods and brings up the visuals on the Black Lions monitors. “Seems the witch has chosen Sendak as her puppet.” He mentions when he sees Sendak fighting Ranveig, both of them desperate to light the flame as their own.

“I’m surprised they found Sendak. We launched him into space.” Shiro sounds surprised and Lotor notices that he sits further upright as he talks. He files away a reminder to ask how they met Sendak another time when they were away from the Kral Zera.

“Land the Lion.” He orders as he watches Sendak starting to climb up the stairs. He needed to stop this now. “Once we’re safely on the ground lower her head and I will leave.” Shiro gives him a curt nod before following his instructions. His heart pounding as he lands in the middle of unsuspecting Galra.

Lotor isn’t nervous as he walks out of the Black Lion’s mouth. Nerves are far from the feeling he had. Anger was one of the first emotions he felt. Anger at the fact that all the pureblooded Galran’s whispering at the fact he had dared show his face. After anger came the feeling of betrayal as his eyes scanned the crowd and he finds his Generals stood next to the Witch. It was an emotion that was quickly replaced with determination.

“You? Lead the Galran Empire?” Sendak laughs as he faces Lotor the torch still in his hand. He knew Sendak wouldn’t take him seriously. They had grown up together and Lotor had always been shown just how much Zarkon wished Sendak was his own son. A memory that made him more determined to make it to the top of the stairs. “Why should you lead the Empire when your own soldiers abandon you at the first sign of trouble?” Lotor’s eyes flick immediately to the women he spoke of and he shook his head before turning back to Sendak.

_They were not his priority at the moment._

“The Emperor fell to me Sendak, as will anyone that stands in my way.” Lotor keeps his voice commanding and distant. He could not afford to be distracted by his Generals, he could break down over seeing them with Haggar later. “Yes, I’m not the strongest Galra here, but I will light the flame because I did something no one else could do.

“Which was?”

“ _I returned the Black Lion to the Empire._ ” He can’t help the smug smile on his face when he notices how Sendak shifts in place. He knew that Sendak would respond that way. “What was it you did Sendak? You let the Galran Empire lose control of the Red Lion by letting it get into Voltron’s hands. What makes you so qualified to lead the Empire?”

“Unlike you, I am full Galran, but if you wish to try; you must earn that right through honourable combat!” Sendak’s voice rings out as he swings his arm to launch it towards Lotor, the former Prince having to roll to avoid being hit before he stands once again.

“I will earn that right, and my first act as Emperor will be to reunite you with my late father!” Lotor’s words reach Shiro in the Black Lion and he straightens up when he sees his ally charging towards Sendak. Part of him wished he was down there to help him, but as he sees the brutality in the way that Sendak and Lotor fight; he knows that he was safer in the Lion. They were fighting to the death, a sentiment that doesn’t surprise Shiro. The Galra fight to the death with every battle, it was part of their motto.

_Victory or death after all._

Lotor didn’t know how long they were fighting for. He didn’t know how many times his sword had hit Sendak’s arm. He didn’t know how many times he had had to duck to avoid his arm coming for him. All he did know was that the other Commanders had started to give them a wide berth, letting them fight without interruption. None of them had even attempted to ascend the stairs while they were distracted.

He grunts as Sendak’s arm launched him into the first platform and rolls over to push himself up. His broadsword lay on the floor in front of him, vibrating as a rumble came from beneath them. He didn’t know what that meant, only that it was not a sign of anything good being about to happen.

Lotor grabs his discarded weapon quickly and pulls himself out of the way, only to collide with a small member of the Blade as an explosion happens beneath them. He nods as the smaller male looks at him, his Blade mask flickering in and out of view. He didn’t know how he knew but this man had his back.

“Fire on the Black Lion! Lotor has betrayed us to Voltron!” Lotor’s head whips round as he hears Sendak address the mass, a pit of fire burning in his stomach as they do as they were told. He looks up at the Lion and nods, a signal to Shiro to act as he must before running headfirst into the fight with Sendak once more.

He’s briefly aware of the fact that many of the Galran commanders that had been vying for the throne were now turning on one another. Fighting against anyone because they had no clear orders. He continues to fight Sendak, back to back with the small Blade of Marmora member that had pushed him out of the way of an explosion.

Each time Sendak’s arm swung to close to him Lotor felt his injuries from his fight with Zarkon ache. He had not had enough time to heal and now they were causing him difficulty. He held his ground and blinked when a shot from a gun hits the power core for Sendak’s arm. He follows the trajectory with his eyes and nods when he sees Axca staring back at him.

She says nothing, only nodding before she turns and leaves with the witch, Ezor and Zethrid. He doesn’t have time to process what that means before Sendak is trying to hit him with his now powered-down arm once again. He ducks, and groans quietly at the strain it puts on his ribs as he rolls to safety.

_He was definitely going to need a rest after this._

It’s only when he pulls himself up once again that he notices Sendak and most of the Galran commanders have fled. He narrows his eyes and sighs before he descends the stairs to reach the still burning torch. He hadn’t wanted the Empire to turn on themselves. They would be stronger together. They would have been able to find a peaceful way of harvesting quintessence faster if they had just remained calm.

Shaking his head, Lotor grabbed the torch Sendak had discarded and ascended the stairs. His ribs ached again, and he knew that he had received several new bruises and injuries but seeing the Kral Zera light because of himself was worth it.

He turns to face the remaining Galran’s as the Archivist announces his reign has started and keeps his back straight. His appearance mattered right now, once back in the Black Lion he could rest. His first quintant as the 34th Emperor of the Galran Empire would start tomorrow, and he needed to discuss how that would go with team Voltron first.

_The future was starting to look a little bit brighter now._


	9. Chapter 8

“I found another one of her journals.” Lotor looks over when he hears Allura’s voice call out throughout the storage room and he immediately starts to walk towards her. They had found several of Honerva’s old journals and he was praying they would hold some answers for the pair of them.

So far, they had found nothing of note. There were a few scrawled notes about some of her experiments, a few hastily drawn diagrams and the odd note about something other than science, but there was nothing that would help them on their journey to collect quintessence using Altean alchemy. Lotor didn’t know what he wanted to find other than something that could help them find directions to Oriande so they could get some answers. And yet, there had been nothing.

“Another science one?” Allura asks as Lotor flicks through the journal. They had given up on her reading the journals simply because there was a mix of both the Galran and Altean languages and she was struggling to understand it. Lotor seemed to have no issue with reading it, only having to ask what the odd Altean word meant. This journal however seemed to have him confused. His brows furrowed as he read about the quintessence experiments that she had begun to run on her own once King Alfor had disproved of her methods. It looked like she had descended into madness, before.

“I think so, it looks… different to the rest of them.” Lotor says, his voice wary as he looks over the writing once more. The handwriting was the most obvious difference, it was like it had been scrawled in a hurry or while the writer had been distracted. It was a stark contrast to the neat curved writing of Honerva that he was used to reading.

“What do you mean?” He’s not surprised by the Princess’ confusion and instead shows her the journal, so that she can make her own conclusions. “Are there any dates on the pages?” She asks as she peeks over his shoulder. There had been a few pages with dates on, but from what they had seen they had always been on pages that didn’t relate to her experiments.

“No, it’s all related to the research, but I don’t think it’s the same woman writing these… this seems like the ramblings of a mad woman…” He sighs as he talks before putting the journal down with the rest of them. They had gone through so many and yet; _no answers._

“Coran did say that Honerva became corrupted with quintessence near the end of her life. It could have corrupt-”

“ _No.”_ Lotor interrupts and he looks at her, his eyes stern. “She knew what quintessence did, I doubt she would let it corrupt her. There has to be another explanation.” Allura can see the look in Lotor’s eyes as he talks. The way he desperately wants to believe that his mother was a noble woman who had just gotten mixed up in dangerous business.

She doesn’t blame him for wanting to believe that. She wanted to believe it. Her father had trusted Honerva, and to see her slow descent into madness hurt. However, she wasn’t going to push the topic further. Lotor clearly didn’t want to consider it and there was no sense in pushing him to consider it.  If she pushed him she risked pushing him further away from her and team Voltron, and if that happened there was no telling what would happen.

“In that case there must be something that we’re missing. Maybe Haggar took it when she took over command.” Allura offers an explanation before moving deeper into the maze that was the witch’s lair. “I’m going to check the west side for now.” She adds as she disappears from Lotor’s line of sight.

He knew she was right. They had to have missed something or Haggar knew that they would eventually come looking for a way to get to Oriande. If it was the latter; they had no chance of being able to retrieve anything from Honerva’s notes. Haggar would have them under lock and key, just like she had done since Lotor had first expressed an interest in her research all those years ago.

Sighing to himself, he looked over at the door as it opened. He expected to see one of the Paladins stood there, he had given them free roam of the ship after all, but when he does look all he sees is one of the ship’s sentries. They look a little concerned and Lotor reluctantly gives them his full attention.

“Sire, three of the Paladins launched one of the robeast coffins.”

“They launched a robeast coffin?” Lotor tries to keep the shock out of his voice. He hadn’t imagined that they would want to see the robeast coffins, so he hadn’t disabled that room on their personal escort. Seems the Paladins could still surprise him.

“Yes, and well, it’s not just that sire.” Lotor sighs a little hearing that before composing himself. He had said that the Paladins were free to explore the entirety of the headquarters, and he knew that the coffins didn’t actually have any robeasts in; it was just surprising that they had decided to launch one. “We have a full report for you back in the throne room, as well as the Paladins.”

“Allura, contact me if you do find something else, I have some matters to take care of in the throne room.” Lotor calls out before walking alongside the sentry. He had been warned by both Allura and Shiro that the three youngest Paladins were always making jokes and doing things that could get them in trouble.

Yet, Lotor honestly didn’t mind that they had caused trouble. It helped breathe new life into the Galra headquarters. Life that Ezor and Zethrid both should have been breathing into the headquarters, but Lotor couldn’t afford to be picky. He was just glad that the headquarters no longer felt like it still ruled by Zarkon. Besides he was certain that whatever else the Paladins had gotten up to couldn’t be anything worse than the trouble Ezor and Zethrid used to get in to.

He remembers the first time he had brought Ezor onto his ship. Narti hadn’t really expressed many doubts about her, it was Axca that had expressed the bulk of the concerns, despite recommending Ezor to Lotor. She thought Ezor was reckless and too bouncy and happy for the mission they were hoping to complete. Ezor had responded to those concerns by managing to disable all of Axca’s defences on the ship, and breaking into her quarters to steal something undetected. He can still remember the look on Axca’s face when she was presented with the only piece of jewellery she owned. A piece of jewellery that he had given her and that he knew was kept inside a locked box.

_Axca had stopped expressing her doubts after that._

Lotor can already see that the three Paladins look as though they’ve been scolded by Dayak as he approaches them. It was a fate he wouldn’t wish on anyone, and when he gives the room a quick glance and sees that it is free of her; he relaxes. He makes a note to seek her out after today’s activities, he needed to tell her how thankful he was for her teachers and make sure she knew that under his regime there would always be a place for her.

“We’re sorry we launched a robeast coffin Lotor.” Hunk says the second that he sees Lotor and the half Galran merely shakes his head, a small smile on his face. “You’re not mad at us?” He asks and Lotor watches as both Pidge and Lance look at him confused.

_Had they really thought that he was mad at them?_

“You were given the chance to go in any room within the headquarters, that included where the coffins were located.” Lotor explains as he flicks through the report that he was given. They had blown up some food goo packets, wrecked some spare sentry parts and injured two of his other sentries. Nothing too disastrous.

“So, you’re not mad that we reprogrammed the escort you gave us?” He looks down at the smallest Paladin as she talks, and his eyes narrow slightly. _That hadn’t been in the report._

“You reprogrammed it… was it faulty?” He asks as he passes back the report. Both the yellow and green Paladins starting to laugh at the serious tone in his voice.

“Not at all, it’s just Lance wanted to have some fun with the escort, but robots don’t have fun like we do, so, it needed reprogramming.” She explains as she shows him on one of the small communication tablets what she had done to the robots. Lotor couldn’t help but be impressed by the lines of coding he was reading. Pidge had the same talent the Narti had displayed for coding but had injected the same fun energy that Ezor had displayed. It was fascinating to read through.

“Interesting.” He says before looking at his wrist communicator as a call buzzed in. He saw Allura’s face and immediately stood up that little bit straighter. “Did you find something Princess?” He asks, ignoring the look that he gets off the Blue Paladin. He knew that Lance was slightly overprotective of Allura, but decided that ignoring his behaviour was the best way to show him that he wasn’t bothered by him.

“Yes, it’s an old Altean compass stone, it looks like it has the directions to Oriande.” Allura sounds so proud of herself for finding it, and Lotor knows she has every right to be proud. Finding something like that was certainly something to be proud of. He certainly was proud.

“Bring it to the throne room, we’ll talk about it here.”


End file.
